The present invention pertains to automotive visors and particularly to a curved sliding visor assembly.
There exists a variety of visor designs which provide visors which extend outwardly from a storage position behind a vehicle headliner. Such construction is represented, for example, by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,491,360; 4,492,404; and 4,989,910. In order to provide a smooth acting control for the movement of the visors from behind the headliner outwardly to a lowered use position, typically multiple pivot arms or a synchronized rack and pinion guide mechanism have been used to provide stable, smooth operation of the visor in its movement.
Sliding planar visors which extend in edge tracks and include stabilizing mechanisms are also known and are typified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,149,179. Such visors tend to bind or stick due in part to widely varying temperatures to which a visor positioned immediately adjacent the roof are subjected in the automotive environment. A visor which extends behind the headliner must be capable of withstanding large temperature differentials during their operation and still provide approximately the same general operational characteristic or "feel" to the user. A sliding mechanism such as a rectangular visor panel captively held at opposite edges in tracks will not provide this desired visor control. In compactly designed vehicles where roof lines are severely angled and space in the headliner area is at a premium, the use of a large conventional slide mechanism is impractical.